25 lines
4.4 KiB
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25 lines
4.4 KiB
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Day By Day By Grace — Bob Hoekstra</title>
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<div class="head">Day By Day By Grace</div>
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<div class="subhead">Bob Hoekstra</div>
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<div class="desc-center"><div class="pad2020">February 19</div></div>
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<h2>A Warning Against Changing God's Grace</h2>
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<div class="block"><i>I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to <b>contend earnestly for the</b> <b>faith</b>…For certain men have crept in unnoticed…ungodly men, who <b>turn</b> the <b>grace</b> of <b>our God</b> into <b>licentiousness</b>.</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Jud',1,3,4);">Jude 3-4</a>)</div>
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<p>From the early days of the Lord's church, a constant threat has been posed by those who want to <b>change God's grace</b> into something it is not. The attempted changes always relate to either <b>licentiousness</b> or <b>legalism</b>.</p>
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<p>Jude addressed this problem in his powerful letter of <b>warning</b>. He called all followers of Christ to engage in a zealous battle for the integrity of the word of God. <i>"I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to <b>contend earnestly for the faith</b>."</i> Such contending is essential, because carnal religious people desire to alter grace, as they quietly operate within churches. <i>"For certain men have <b>crept</b> in <b>unnoticed</b>…ungodly men, who <b>turn</b> the <b>grace</b> of <b>our God</b> into <b>licentiousness</b>."</i> Their intended modifications involved turning grace into a <b>license to sin</b>. Grace is God's means of <b>forgiving</b> our sins, as well as <b>transforming</b> the sinner that he might sin less and less. Grace is <b>not</b> God's sanction by which we <b>plan</b> and <b>excuse</b> our <b>personal indulgence</b>.</p>
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<p>This issue also appears in Romans, as some took God's grace in the same unwarranted direction. They started with a glorious truth. <i>"Where sin abounded, <b>grace</b> abounded <b>much more</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Rom',5,20);">Romans 5:20</a>). What a <b>grand</b> actuality this is! No matter how atrocious the extent of our sins, the grace of God unto forgiveness and transformation is far greater. Yet, how <b>heinous</b> is the licentious thought that more indulgence in sin would be a good thing, since such would only present further opportunities for more abounding grace. <i>"What shall we say then? Shall we <b>continue in sin</b> that <b>grace</b> may <b>abound</b>?"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Rom',6,1);">Romans 6:1</a>). The answer is a resounding negation. <i>"<b>Certainly not</b>! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Rom',6,2);">Romans 6:2</a>). <b>Anticipated</b> grace is <b>never</b> an <b>excuse</b> for <b>planning</b> to <b>sin</b>.</p>
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<p>In Galatians, the converse problem of <b>legalism</b> is confronted. <i>"I marvel that you are <b>turning away</b> so soon from Him who called you in the <b>grace</b> of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to <b>pervert the gospel</b> of Christ"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Gal',1,6,7);">Galatians 1:6-7</a>). Here, some were trying to <b>add law</b> requirements to the good news of God's grace. This attempt to turn grace into a performance standard is described as a perversion, a grievous twisting, of grace. Whether <b>license</b> or <b>legalism</b>, <b>both</b> change and undermine the grace of God.</p>
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<div class="dbdbg_prayer">Dear gracious Master, I repent of any times I have used grace as an excuse for carnal indulgence or have treated Your grace as a call to religious performance. Thank You for Your forgiving and transforming grace. Grant me discernment and courage to earnestly contend for true grace, through Christ, my Lord, Amen.</div>
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